Immune responses gradually decline with increasing age. Coincident with a decline in immune responses is a concomitant increase in the incidence of tumor development, infection and inflammatory diseases in middle aged and elderly populations of individuals. (xe2x80x9cFundamental Immunologyxe2x80x9d ed. W.E. Paul, Raven Press, NY (1989); Miller, R. A., Exp. Gerontol. 29:21-35 (1994). Compromised nutritional status can contribute to the impaired immunological state and, hence, declining health of aging individuals. Thus, there is a need to develop convenient and effective methods that augment the nutritional requirements of middle aged and elderly individuals, thereby stimulating the immune system to combat disease.
The present invention relates to a dietary supplement. It also is directed to a method to stimulate the immune system of middle aged and elderly individuals or to stimulate proliferation of a lymphocyte by administration of the dietary supplement.
In one embodiment, the dietary supplement comprises Vitamin E, Vitamin B6 and conjugated linoleic acid. In a specific embodiment, the dietary supplement includes Vitamin E in an amount in a range of between about 10 milligrams and about 267 milligrams per milligram of Vitamin B6, and conjugated linoleic acid in an amount in a range of between about 17 milligrams and about 100 milligrams per milligram of Vitamin B6. In another specific embodiment, the dietary supplement further includes glutathione Vitamin C, folic acid, zinc, selenium, Vitamin D, copper, Vitamin B12 and glutathione. Preferably, the dietary supplement includes Vitamin C in an amount in a range of between about 17 milligrams and about 200 milligrams per milligram of Vitamin B6; folic acid in an amount in a range of between about 0.05 milligrams and about 0.2 milligrams per milligram of Vitamin B6; zinc in an amount in a range of between about 1.67 milligrams and about 10 milligrams per milligram of Vitamin B6; selenium in an amount in a range of between about 0.005 milligrams and about 0.02 milligrams per milligram of Vitamin B6; Vitamin D in an amount in a range of between about 0.0008 milligrams and about 0.005 milligrams per milligram of Vitamin B6; copper in an amount in a range of between about 0.00008 milligrams and about 0.0007 milligrams per milligram of Vitamin B6; Vitamin B12 in an amount in a range of between about 0.0002 milligrams and about 0.001 milligrams per milligram of Vitamin B6; and glutathione in an amount in a range of between about 4 milligrams and about 33 milligrams per milligram of Vitamin B6.
in another embodiment, the dietary supplement comprises about 60-800 IU of Vitamin E (such as d-xcex1-tocopherol, dl-xcex1-tocopheryl acetate, dl-xcex1-tocopheryl); about 3-6 mg of Vitamin B6; and about 100-300 mg of conjugated linoleic acid. In another embodiment, the dietary supplement is administered to a middle aged or elderly individuals .
In another embodiment, the dietary supplement further includes about 25-100 mg of glutathione (such as xcex3-glutamylcysteinylglycine) alone, or in combination with about 100-600 mg of Vitamin C; about 300-600 xcexcg of folic acid; about 10-30 mg of zinc; about 30-60 xcexcg of selenium; about 5-15 xcexcg of Vitamin D; about 0.5-2 xcexcg of copper; and about 1-3 xcexcg of Vitamin B12.
In yet another embodiment, the invention is a method of stimulating the immune system of an individual comprising formulating the dietary supplement and administering the dietary supplement to the individual.
In still another embodiment, the invention is a method of stimulating the proliferation of lymphocytes comprising formulating the dietary supplement and administering the dietary supplement to the lymphocytes. In a preferred embodiment, T-lymphocytes (T-cells) are stimulated to proliferate.
The invention described herein provides an alternative and improved dietary supplement that can conveniently be used to stimulate immune responses in middle aged and elderly individuals. Thus, administration of the dietary supplement of the present invention can potentially prevent infection-mediated diseases and tumor formation as a result of compromised immune function in individuals, in particular middle aged and elderly individuals.